The sport of boating has enjoyed tremendous popularity and a substantial increase in popularity in recent years.
As more and more people participate in boating and boating-related activities, there is a concomitant increase in demand for boating accessories. For example, many people use their boat to reach out-of-the way places to fish, picnic, swim or the like. In such out-of-the way places, boat docking facilities may be non-existent or minimal at best. Under such conditions, a boater may be forced to tie his boat to a tree or the like since a traditional anchor may not be suitable. Such a boat docking method is not satisfactory, especially if there is a possibility of choppy water and/or high winds. Furthermore, suitable trees or limbs may not be accessible from the boat location that is most suitable to the boat owner.
Therefore, the anchoring field of the art has included several designs for shoreline or beach anchors. See, for example, the anchors disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,361 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,128.
However, these devices can be cumbersome to store and to use, and may still not be totally effective under all circumstances and conditions. Still further, such devices are nota capable of having the anchoring features thereof adjusted to fit the particular ground conditions encountered. Thus, for example, should the ground be quite loose, these anchors cannot be adjusted to increase the ground-gripping function for such loose soil over that ground-gripping feature used in dense soil. This drawback may make the anchor overly difficult to insert into dense soil, and yet make that same anchor too loosely embedded in loose soil.
Therefore, there is a need for a land anchor for a boat which is easy to use, set up, and store, and yet is adaptable for various soil conditions.